LOCAL AND GENERAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 4, 29 September 1917, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

His Exccllcncv the 1 Governor-General will open the Exhibition of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts at the YVhitmore Street Gallery this afternoon, at 3 o'clock.

One of the places that has .suffered grievously by tho strike 1 which has tied, up the 6mall steamers is Kaikoura. This littlo town is dependent upon sea-borne supplies, for tho road communications are very long and the wads so bad as to make it uncertain. No steamer has called at Kaikoura for three weeks, and it is reported that the position regarding foodstuffs there is serious. The Government ha 6 been asked to give relief, and the Hiiiemoa: is to be sent to Kaikoura with supplies as soon as possible. Ti> steamer is now undergoing repairs, but these repairs will bo completed to-mor-row, and as soon as possible afterwards the steamer .will sail.

At the. Second Division Conference on Thursday a delegate/ made the _ statement that the Financial Assistance Board had not in any case granted more than £1 a week, though it could have granted up to. ,£3. A representative of The DosiiNiONlwaited upon • the board last night to inquire as to the correctness of the statements,"and the members most emphatically declared that they were both incorrect. They stated that in hundreds of oases over .£1 a week Lad been granted, and in several cases the maximum allowance tho boaTd was permitted to grant had been, made, namely, £2 a week—not .£3, as stated at the con- 1 ference. It was pointed" out by the board ; that very few'people's commitments for interest: on mortgages, insur ? ance arid rates amounted to £M 'a year, in fact, the majority of the applications which came before the board were for less than ,£SO a year.

"The gas supplied in Wellington is simply vile," said Mr. 'E. Fletcher in the Hovise of Representatives last night. "1 have written to the Minister of Internal Affairs about this matter,"and he replied that he had much pleasure in referring the matter to tlie chairman of the' National Efficiency Board. Now, the chairman of .. the National Efficiency Board was the. manager of the Gas Company. I don't say that Mr. Ferguson would not do the right thing, but the position is an impossible, one for him." He referred to Mr. idea of referring the matter to the.'Board of Trade. He had a considerable; respect for the Board of Trade, but the difficulty was that it operated so slowly. ■ He pointed out that it was possible to standardise gas, because standards were established and insisted upon in England in some cities. .He would suggest that a standard be established, and that Government inspectors be put on to inspect the meters to see that people got what they paid for.-

Our special correspondent at' Napier .telegraphs that a' big deal in real estate has just been eeffcted, Mr. A. 11. Wilson having purchased for 311,000 the premise's at ibe corner of Hastings Street, Napier, which are at present occupied by Messrs. lurkcaldie and Stains The price represents a little over 1 'per foot frontage to Hastings Street.

Hugh M'Cafferty, who was removed to the Hospital suffering from'buirns received ire the fire which occurred recently at Fox's BoaTdinghouse, Ml Willis Street, died in that institution on Thursday morning.

Tho price of gas and the recent increase was the subject of. a- question addressed by Mr. It. Fletcher to the Prime Minister in the House of • Eepresentatives. yesterday. Mr. Fletcher asked- -whether the Government'would take any action in the matter. If wo were getting good gas, he said, the-case would not be so bad. but the company had a monopoly, -and they were ' Belling poor gas at a/high price. Mr. Massey said he thought-the proper thing to do was to refer the matter to' tho Board of Trade, ..and he would so refer it. • - ■ •

Something, verv peculiar happened at Wellington South yesterday afternoon. Five very diminutive citizens disappeared from five happy homes, and threw five households into confusion and despair at their wholly inexplicable absence. Tive anxious relatives'made-five different cnlls upon the Newtown polieo, and one by one as the afternoon -wore on the little wanderers were restored from various places. It can scarcely be suggested that there was any collusion between tho youngsters, as their -ages Tanged from two and a half to five years, and they did not travel together. One mere babe went all the way from.Girton Terrace to Mein Street before being _reoaphired. Perhaps Jithe fino spring weather, woke tho "Wanderlust' in the youthful souls, and lured them on to peck "fresh woods.and pastures new."

News received from Ynncouver advises that the two-mast schooner-yacht Casco, on which Robert Louis Stevenson sailed for the South Seas never to return, is now fitting out as a codfishes at Brown Island for a.fishing cruise <n the Behring Sea, and will have, a- crew, of fifteen .men. ■

Mr. G. A. Hurley, a. vice-president of llio-Wellington Lawn' Tennis Association, speaking at the. annual meeting- of- the assooiation in ■ support of- the. proposal to instruct delegates to cut down to tho lowest the expensos of the New Zealand Association, said that he thought that the parent association should not collect any fees whatever from the provincial associations during the war, and that after allowing only for the unavoidable expenses during a possible further three years of war that the balance should be expended in one of the war funds. He thought that. it was not. unlikely that (he time would come when tonnis playere .would consider it as vory nearly a. dis- ' loval act to keep so large a. sum of money locked up for future sport. when the famine cry was already old to our ears. At the least the money should be in- . vested in wnr stock, but giving it for the relief of suffering humanity' -was. the proper course. The New Zealand. Natives Association i is endeavouring this coming Christmas to supply tho wives and families of;; our soldiers who are away .fighting at the front with, their Christinas dinners, and the committee invites donations towards this worthy object of lambs, potatoes, peas, or such like. Lnst« Christmas a bullock was presented by Mr. Short, of Foilding, and it was .surprising the number of families who applied lor a joint for Christmas, some statins that if it • had not. been for Mr. Short s generous gift they'would otherwise have been without meat. The association .wants this gift of a joint.- i-f' meat, potatoes, and peas to bo given as a tribute in recognition of the great sacrifice that is being made for home, honour, and country ,and it is its intention that all'shall be given without the least suspicion of patronage, thus allowing all' soldiers' wives to partake without feeling they are receiving charitable aid.

In the course of the hearing of an appeal before' the First Auckland Military Service Board, counsel (Mr. A. E. Skelton) pointed out that his client had been rejected four years ago for Territorial service by the same medical 'practitioner who now, as a member of the same medical board, had passed appellant as fit for active service. ' The appellant and witnesses gave a' history of ill-hctiltli ever since childhood; and stated that in the last two years he had to, leave five different occupations on account of breakdowns in his health. • Major' Conlan said that when the Territorial' system was established the authorities had achidlly .culled out GG'per cent, -of the men available because they did not want more than 33 per cent, of the number offering. Mr. Skolton: "That is a remarkable statement, Major Conlan." Military counsel added that many men rejected for Territorial traininjwere passed for active service. In view of the good record of his family, appellant's appeal was eventually adjourned sine die. Messrs. Wm. Campbell, Ltd., recommend "NO RUBBING" Laundry Help for washing clothes clean without rubbing or injury to hands or fabrics, Is. packeU every time.—Advt. For good wear try our English or Colonial Glace 800t5,.255. Sd. to 395. Sd.— George Fowl<is,.T/W.,. Maimora'St.-Advt.

The Hon. H. Stuart Littleton, chairman of the National Bank of New Zealand, at the annual meeting in London, referred to the management as follows:—"Let me ask for your due appreciation of tilt good work done for us, first by Mr. Duthie, our general manager in New Zealand, our assistant-general manager, Mr. M'Lean, and by Mr. Willis, and our very careful inspectors, and finally by all our loyal and capable stanVon whom the war has placed no inconsiderable extra strain, not forgetting lil young ladies who aro helping in the offices."

The express which left Auckland for Wellington Inst Monday night was delayed en route owing to the slippery state ■of the rails on the Spiral at Raurimu. A new class of engine, at present being tested by the Railways Department, was, says an-Auckland paper, attached to the train at Taumanmui. and it proved unequal to the task of hauling it up the steep Raurimu grade. Light rain hnd been falling for some time, this accounting for the 6tate of the rails.. .The first stop—of about half, an hour's durationoccurred in the tunnel' just past Raurimu. The train again came to a standstill shortly after'negotiating the largt. curve on- the spiral. Eventually -it was divided into two portions, which were hauled up to Waimarino separately. The time taken ordinarily on the run from Raurimu lo Waimarino is 35 minutes, but on tliis occasion the express, .took nearly •threo hours.

At the annual meeting of the Masterton Chamber of Commerce.yesterday Mr. H; H. Donald was*"elccted president for the ensuing year,- and- Mr. H. -H. Boddington was appointed secretary m place of his father, who has resigned. .It'.was decided to inform the Eketahuna- Chamber of Commerce that it was useless sending a deputation to Masterton on the question of the Saturday half-holiday.

Mr. H.. Rands, M.Sc, a graduate of Canterburv College, Christchurch, who at .the end of last year wa<= awarded, largely, on the recommendation of Sir Ernest Kiitherford, a scholarship, at .'the University of Manchester, in order _to prosecute research work, in connection' .with, munitions of war, has. recently sent to'the-University of New Zealand some report of his doings. By the generosity of the Union and Orient Steamship. Companies, Mr. Rands left the .Dominion in January last with a free passage to. England. On the advice of-Sir Ernest Rutherford and Professor. Dixon, of ■Manchester, he spent some two months, at- that, University: in the study, of _ the best methods of. analysis, of...explosives,,, and then secured a post in the research laboratories of one of the 3iost eminent chemical firms in England, now .engaged almost exclusively on munitions. _ I have charge," he writes, "(under the chief chemist) of an experimental plant for the production by the oxidation of ——. This process has been largely developed in Germany since the war began, but naturally they are not lending us their plans and-specifications, and we have to work the details out de novo. Wo are co-operating with other firms in England and America,' and the'process is being rapidly developed, and larger plants designed." Mr. Rands hopes that, after completing his present useful wark work and gaining valuable experience in industrial chemistry, he will be able to take an abbreviated nost-gradu-ate course at the University ol Manchester. ■ -i • -i ■The shortage of carbide/in Auckland is reported to be fairly acute (says the "HerakK')- The only stocks held in any quantity are stated to be the large rock tvpe used for house lighting, there being a" scarcity of, the smaller for motor-car' lights, etc. Consignments are expected shortly from Japan and Canada. Meantime the small local stocks are being eked out, and it is thought that they will last until the new supplies nrr'ive. Before the war the price of carbide, which then came from Norway, was about ,£l6 a ton, but, at present, it is nearly .£4O a ton. There have been no deliveries of carbide in Auckland for some months past,' but those to arrive are expected to relieve the situa-. tion. ', . The prospects for tho approaching strawberry season in Auckland Province are not considered to be as favourable as those of previous years (says, the "New Zealand Herald"). This condition is due to the abnormally wet season and the difficulty of obtaining sufficient labour for weeding and cultivating the beds.'" The scarcity of labour, has also caused a reduction in' the area devoted to strawberry culture. The plants aro flowering well, but at this time of the year growth is preferred to blossom. Recent light rain, however, should promote fresh growth and materially assist in improving the quality of the crop. ' An exhibition of the latest type of lifesaving suit will be given by Mr. J. B. Clarkson, motor importor, at Oriental Baj. Life-saving experts and casual passersby should be interested in the exhibition, which is being given at the request of Lady Ward, who is interested in such matters. The suit is can invention, weighs about 851b., can bo put on in about forty seconds, - and when securely locked wilL support at least five or six persons in the water. Besides keeping a person from drowning it will protect him from cold and exposure. When Mr. Clarkson arrived ; in New York he bought his suit befo;o . leaving for England, and tested it in New York: Harbour, and he states that it is impossible to sink in the oulht. The first one hundred and fifty; American nurses to cross the. Atlantic eachcarried a suit, and General Pershing had one also. A collection for tho Red Cioss fund will lie taken up at the exhibition.

On Miss Ada Reeve's arrival this morning- at Lambton Station, at 11.10. she will be met by the'executive of the Returned Soldiers' Association, who will, in conjunction ' with. the Trentham and theTrumpet Bands, escort her to •their, club, and After a brief visit, she will go on to the Town Hall,- where sho will bereceived by the committee of Paddys. Market. At 3 o'clock.Miss Reeve will bo tendered a reception at.- the Returned Soldiers' Club. At-7.30 a procession, consisting of'three bands and a large number of soldiers, will escort Miss Beevo from the Midland Hotel to the lown Hall, where she will as#t to raise funds for the blind soldiers- and .sailors.; A kinematograph photo will be. taken ot Miss Reeve's arrival at Lambton Station. 1

Two Chinamen appeared in the Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr. S. R. M'Carthy, S.M., charged with selling cigarettes after-8 p.m. They were each lind £!i and costs 75.. and. were informed that on their next appearance the fines would bo raised.

The Auckland Law Society has.under, consideration the question of liow.it can assist members who have been called up for active service, or who.will be called up in the Second Division, in carrying on their practices- during their absence (says t'ho "New Zealand Herald ). A meeting of the society is to be heldshortly to go into the matter. Some time ago members throughout .the Auckland district, were circularised and asked to assist the trustee boards of the National Efficiency Board wherever,, possible. It was suggested, for instance, that tliev might prepare ordinary clauses for insertion in powers of attorney, attest documents, give simple advice, etc. It is understood that effect has been given to'the proposals'of tho society.

Messrs Baldwin and Rayward, patent attorneys anil consulting engineers, 'of <H5 Lamblon Quay, report that. recently they acted as agents, in filing the lollovring" application for letters patentof New Zenl'amh-A. Lvell, Lyttcltan. •■ gravity motor; A: . Burnley, Petone ' cloth brasher;' Oil and Carbon Products, Ltd., London, volatile products; F. C. Long, Auckland, boots and shoes: F. 0. Lonff, bane, roofing;- R, S. ', Fin ay, Cartton, Auckland, bayonet; S. S. Allw.ll, Hautdpu, machinc-gnn; E. ,T. Chilton, Bns-, bane, reefing; R, S. Finlay, Carlton, motor-cycle; F. M. Brabaz.on, Jiortham, plough; It. S. Vise, .Wellington,, card scorer; V. L. Reeve,' Ballarat, printing machine. .